She asked Xiao Ai: "I cough so much that it feels like my lungs are about to come out. Is it really okay? I heard that long-term coughing can easily turn into pharyngitis and throat cancer. Isn't that true?"

"Cough cough cough..."

Colleague A came back to work after feeling "yangkang". Because his throat was still uncomfortable, he coughed all day long. She asked Xiao Ai: "I cough so much that it feels like my lungs are about to come out. Is it really okay? I heard that a long-term cough can easily turn into pharyngitis and throat cancer. Isn't that true?" Wang Gang, deputy director of the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, said that coughs after COVID-19 infection are indeed different from common cold and influenza coughs. This is because the new coronavirus is neurophagic and can easily cause neuropathological and inflammatory changes. Therefore, the cough caused by after being infected with the new coronavirus will be more severe and longer-lasting than coughs related to common colds and influenza.

So how long will the cough symptoms last after turning negative? Niu Hongtao, a physician at the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, pointed out that Omicron virus strains and above respiratory tract infections are the main ones, immune cells gather here to "participate in the battle." After completing the task, they need to expel secretions from the throat, trachea and bronchial tubes through coughing and expectoration to clean up the battlefield. Regarding the recovery time, Niu Hongtao said, "It takes time to clean up the battlefield. Cough symptoms usually recover in 2 weeks after infection, and may last up to 8 weeks."

Coughing after turning negative is a normal phenomenon, but Niu Hongtao emphasized that you should go to the hospital if you cough up blood, worsen the cough at night, cough up a large amount of yellow purulent sputum, have a fever again, have chest tightness, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, etc., as well as have edema in the lower limbs or cough for more than 3 weeks.

It is worth noting that you cannot hold in your cough. Feng Yingkai, chief physician of the Respiratory Department of Chengdu BOE Hospital, pointed out that long-term suppressed coughing may cause intrathoracic and intracranial pressure to increase, leading to syncope, which can be life-threatening in severe cases.

At the same time, do not cough hard at the throat. Coughing too hard can cause throat swelling and pain, hoarseness, and even blood vessel rupture, embolism, or hemangioma rupture.

The correct approach is to drink more water, get more rest, and relieve cough symptoms through diet therapy, drug treatment and other methods. When you have a severe cough, you can use two pillows to raise your head and back from high to low when sleeping, which is helpful for smooth breathing and coughing and phlegm discharge.

2. Pay attention to 5 types of abnormal cough, which may contain cancer signals. Chang Chun, chief physician of the Respiratory Department of Peking University Third Hospital, said that the cause of chronic cough needs to be considered to be caused by tumors. Many cancer patients have no specific symptoms at first, and sometimes they may only have a slight cough. At this time, they are easily ignored or underestimated. When the disease progresses and the tumors invade the airway mucosa and blood vessels, they will cough up blood, hoarseness, and even venous distension, which can easily delay the opportunity for treatment.

Cancers such as lung cancer, larynx cancer, and esophageal cancer may cause abnormal coughs, so you must be vigilant about persistent coughs of unknown origin. Taking lung cancer as an example, the following five abnormal coughs need attention:

, Coughing for more than 3 months , especially middle-aged and elderly people with smoking habits. Such people should go to the hospital for lung CT examination in time to be alert for malignant lesions in the lungs.

, recurrent irritating dry cough . Before each cough, you can feel something irritating or inducing a severe dry cough.

, cough and hoarseness . Lung cancer can easily metastasize to mediastinal lymph nodes. Hoarseness will occur if the enlarged lymph nodes compress the nerves. If you have this symptom, you should seek medical examination in time.

, There is blood in the sputum, which is sometimes mild and sometimes severe.In the early stages of lung cancer, cancer cells will slowly erode and destroy surrounding blood vessels, causing blood streaks to appear in sputum.

, cough and low fever, weight loss . If you have repeated, irregular low-grade fever during coughing and sudden weight loss, you need to be alert to lung cancer and get checked out in time.

3. Will coughing cause pneumonia ?

Many people are worried that if they keep coughing after turning from yang to yin, will it affect their lungs? Will long-term coughing after turning negative cause pneumonia?

First of all, cough and pneumonia are two different concepts. Pneumonia is a disease, while cough is a symptom. There are many causes of cough. Coughing itself does not cause pneumonia. When virus or bacteria infect the upper respiratory tract but does not affect the lower respiratory tract, cough symptoms will occur. And when the respiratory tract is infected, it may develop into pneumonia, and coughing is also one of the symptoms of pneumonia.

Cough symptoms after turning negative can recover within 2-8 weeks, so there is no need to worry too much. If the cough is uncomfortable, the symptoms can be relieved by the following methods:

. Use antitussive drugs under the guidance of a doctor, such as Asmeta, dextromethorphan, Huifeining, etc.

, If the sputum turns from white to yellow, be alert to viral infection and bacterial infection . Patients who do not need medication urgently can use penicillins and cephalosporins for antibacterial treatment.

. Appropriately use corn silk orange peel water, fig rock sugar water and other dietary therapy methods to relieve symptoms.

. Drink more water, avoid greasy and spicy food, talk less, and humidify the air.

In short, the cough after the new coronavirus changes from positive to negative is the cleaning process of the immune system after the virus is eliminated. There is no need to worry too much. However, if you have chest tightness, shortness of breath, coughing up blood, or coughing for more than 3 weeks, you should seek medical examination and treatment in time. During the cough period, the discomfort can be relieved through diet therapy, drug treatment and other methods, and the cough can usually return to normal in 2-8 weeks.

Reference:

[1] "Why do I keep coughing after turning negative?" How to deal with it? Expert Interpretation". Science and Technology Daily. 2022-12-22

[2] "Coughing after COVID-19 infection? West China experts tell you to do this".Chengdu Business Daily.2022-12-23

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